Depth recorder for a well dkul



Dec. 12, 1939. P, LL Re. 21,297 DEPTH RECORDERFOR- A WELL DRILL OrizinalFiled July 5. 1935 3 Sheets-Sheet l amen tom GeaP. M izell G. P. MIZELLDec. 12, 1939.

DEPTH RECORDER on A WELL DRILL Original Filed July 5, 19:55 3Sheets-Sheet 2 MAM Dec. 12, 1939. G. P. MIZELL DEPTH R ECORDER FOR AWELL DRILL Original Filed July 5, 19:55 3 Sheets-Sheet a I 3mm Geo. PMizeH f6. MM

QU v

UNITED j-s'r'A'rss PATENT OFFICE #233333 011811!!! No- 2,096,995, Mocflibet 26, 1937:

Serial No. 29.815, July 5, 1935. reissue October i, 1839,

5 Claims.

My invention relates to a device for recording the'speed of drilling andthe weight simultaneously resting upon the drill as anindication of thetype of formation through which the drill l is progressing. A I [t isapparent that if a, comparatively constant weight is rested upon thedrill, the drill will progress at a comparatively constant rate unlessthe formation through which the drill is 16 penetrating varies. Hence bynoting the weight resting upon the drill and the speedwith which thedrill penetrates the formation I can deter-. mine the comparativehardness or penetrability 0f the formation being'drilled.

1' It is an object of the invention to provide a device which will showthe speed of drilling and make a visual record thereof simultaneouslywith the production of an adjacent record showing the .weight restingupon the drill. thus ensmallsideeievationofthe view oitherecording'deqthe mechanism device recording the weight and speed'mounted within Application for (c1. ass-n I have shown my device asmounted in connection. with an ordinary derrick I having a derrickplatform 2 at the lower end thereof upon which is supported the usualrotary drilling device I through which rotary motion is communi- 6'cated to the drive stem or kelley joint I;

At the upper end of the derrick I is the usual crown block 5 having aplurality of sheaves I thereon. Toward the lower end of the derrick andmounted between the supports thereof is a hoisting reel 1 through whichthe cable I is adapted to be handled in the drilling operation, Saidcable passesover the sheave of the crown block and is then extended downat 8 around the traveling block II and then back up over the crown blocksheave 6 and the dead line H is extended downwardly and attached to thederrick platform at if.

The traveling block It isadapted to support the'drill stem 4 and has ahook II thereon connected with the bail ll of the swivel II. This is ofordinary construction and need not beparticularly described."

Connected with the upper end Ii of the traveling block III is a line H,which is passed over guide means in the form of a pair of pulleys il and[ion the upper end of the derrick and extended downwardly around apulley II secured to the upper'endof a weight 2| and from thence back upover a pulley 2! anddownwardly thru stop guides 23 and 24 into thehousing of the recording device. I fix upon the line between the stopmembers 23 and 24 a block 26 which is adapted to engage with eitherof'the stop members 28 and 24 to limit the movement of the recordingline. a r

The weight 2! is slidable upon a hollow guide member 21, which isextended from a point somewhat above the 1100: of the derrick downwardlyto the derrick platform on which it is normally m supported. Bothendseofthis tubular member are provided withv flanges II to limit themovement of the weight 2| and the weight 28' thereon, both said weightsbeing ,slidable on the guide member. -The guide member itself isslidable 5 upon a rod or cable II, which is anchored at its lower end 8!in one of the sills oi the d errick and extends the full length of thederrick and its upper end is anchored'at t! in the crown block. withjhedead line H is a weight 50 indicating 33 of ordinary constructionandwhich, as it formsho part of the present invention, a not specificallyshown; Suiiice to say that theline II is passed between twostationaryendtlandlluponthehousing ss u of the weight indicator and isdeflected around a movable post or plunger 36. Said plunger whendepressed due to the weight upon the deadline will move the post orplunger l8 inwardly to actuate the-weight indicator through a fluidconducting line 3'! which extends below the derrick and into the housingwhere a hand 38 upon a. dial 3! is moved by the pressure of fluid insaid line to indicate the amount of weight upon the cable. This is acommon type of indicator, now well known.

' The recording line I] is shown in Figs. 3 and 4- as entering the upperend of the housing 25. Within the housing it passes over a pulley orsheave 40 mounted upon a shaft ll, rotatable in bearings 42 in thehousing. From the pulley the line is passed downwardly and reeled abouta drum 3.

The drum is is mounted upon a shaft 44 parallel with the shaft ll andjournaled in bearings in the side wall of the housing at a level belowthe shaft 4!. Its end is extended through the wall of the housing andhas on the outwardly extending end a drum 5 over which a line or cable46 is wound, said line having a weight 41 depending downwardly from thedrum or reel 45. It will be seen that this weight exerts a constanttension tending to rotate the shaft 44 and reel up a cable or line ii onthe drum 4!, thus providing means for taking .up and paying out the lineH after it leaves the pulley ll.

Mounted on the shaft ll within the housing is a beveled pinion ll, whichengages a similar pinion 49 upon a threaded shaft ill. Said shaft isrotatable with the gear 49 within bearings ii on the wall of thehousing, the lower end of the shaft being rotatable at 52 in a crossbrace or support 58 in the frame of the housing. Mounted Y upon thethreaded portion of the shaft II is a nut ll upon which is a laterallyextending arm 54. Said arm has an opening therein to receive anupstanding guide post II, which is anchored in the cross brace 55 of theframe.

At the end of the arm is secured a rod I! at the lower end of which issecured a stylus I8, as seen in Fig. 4, which is adapted to bear againsta sheet 59 upon a rotatable drum '0.

The drum III is fixed at the upperend of a vertical shaftti, which issupported in a cross brace 62 inthe housing and has at its lower end agear 63. Said gear i3 is adapted to engage with gears 84 connected witha spring operated clock mechanism BI. It will be understood that bymeans of the clock mechanism the drumll is rotated at a uniform speedsupported upon the upper end of a sleeve 8' through antifrictionbearings 81 thereon.

The operation of the weight indicator in its ordlnary'manner will rotatethe shaft '8 to which a the hand 38 is connected. To make a record ofthe weight upon the recording sheet 58 I place a pulley or pinion I onthe outer end of the shaft BI and then mount a smaller pulley II on thewall of the housing so as to engage against a rod II and hold the sameagainst the pulley'llin such manner that the rotation of the pulley willmove the rod 1 I The rod Il may have rack teeth thereon to engagesimilar teeth on the pinion I to assure the proper movement of the rodby the record sheet 69 taken from the drum G0 is shown. At the upperside of this sheet is a chart marked with coordinates, indicating byspaced vertical record sheet are similar coordinates indicating.

weight upon the drill and the time that the drilling .progresses. Thesetwo charts are arranged one under the other so that they may be comparedto indicate the natured of the formation being drilled as well as therate of penetration as controlled by the weight on the drill.

When the new section of drill stem is introduced into the string ofdrill stem in the well the traveling block will be raised upwardlytoward the upper part of the derrick to allow the introduction of thenew section. when this is done the line H will be drawn upwardly by thereel-. ing up of the line H upon the drum 43 within the housing. Thiswill raise the stylus or mark ing pin upwardly to the upper end of itsmovement indicated by the vertical lines on the upper chart in Fig. 7.When drilling then starts the pin will gradually travel downwardly alongthe chart as indicated by the line ii in Fig. 7. Simultaneously theamount of weight resting on the drill will be recorded by ,the line iion the lower chart. With reference to the two lines it will be seen thatthe line IQ is comparatively constant, indicating thatthe weight restingon the drill varied but little. However, the drill did not progressdownwardly at a uniform speed. At certain points it traveled faster thanother and, as 'shown particularly at Tl, the line fiat- 7 seen thatwhere the 'weight is not heavy upon'the bit, as indicated at 19, thespeed of drilling is also not rapid, as shown at Ill. When the weight isincreased, however, the speed of drilling also increases. By acomparison of these two graphs indicating speed of drilling and weightupon the bit a fairly good indication of the character of the formationbeing drilled may be seen.

In the handling of the drill stem where new sections in the drillingstring have to be inserted the traveling block II may have to be loweredto the derrick platform during certain periods and an extra length ofline must be provided, be-

cause the block 28 engages the stop 28 to prevent excessive movement ofthe stylus on the chart. Also, when the traveling block moves above itsnormal path of travel there will be some slack in the line because theblock 26 engages the stop 24. The weight 41 will normallypreserve a tautcondition of the line II and, in case a greater amo'unt'of line isdesired, the weight II, together with the sleeve 21 and the lower weightII, will be elevatedabo've their normal position slidingalong the rod'30 when the block II engages the stop 23'. However, when the partsassume their normal position the weights will drop back to thepositionshown in the drawings. Black in the line II, when the block 23engages the stop 14, if the traveling block moves above its normal path,is taken up by the weight II which will slide down the sleeve 21 tomaintain the line taut. The stop member 26 upon the line I1 is arrangedto move through a distance between the stop members 23 and 24, whichdistance is only slightly in excess of the length of a section of drillstern. Thus when the block 26 engages with either of the stops the linecan not move any .type of formation occur in the well and the degree ofhardness of the formation may also be indicated. Some allowance may bemade, of course, for the condition of the well drill which may begradually dulled as the bit is used in drilling. The duller the bitbecomes the slower of course will be the progress of the bit. Therecord, however, will be of value from a geological standpoint toindicate the nature of the formation,,the straightness of the hole andthe condition of the drilling tool as well as the eflect oi the weighton the rate 0! penetration. The record is made automatically withoutattention by the driller so that he may take advantage of theinformation recorded and it seems obvious that various advantages willbe obtained from the device other than those above set out.

What I claim asnewis:

1. In a rotary well drilling installation including a derrick and atraveling block suspended therein, the combination of a recording lineconnected with said block, a pulley at the upper end of said derrickover which said line is passed, a housing. a reel therein for said line,a rotating recording drum in said housing, a record sheet thereon, apulley in said housing over whichsaid line is engaged to rotate saidpulley. a shaft rotated by said pulley and. a stylus engaging saidrecord sheet and actuated through the rotation said drill stem may beraised and lowered, the

combination of a recording line connected with 7 said traveling block,means to reel up said-recording line, a loop in said recording line, a

weight supported in said loop and acting to take up slack in said linebut permitting the increase of the normal length of said line,- a stylusactuated by the movement of said line, a record sheet. to be engaged bysaid stylus, and means to move said sheet uniformly.

3.. In a rotary well drilling installation including a derrick and atraveling block suspended therein, the combination of a recording lineconnected with said block, a pulley at the upper end of said derrickover which said line is passed, a housing, a reel therein for said line,a pulley actuated by the movement of said line, a rotating recordingdrum in said housing, a record sheet thereon, a stylus actuated inresponse to the movement of said pulley to mark a record on said sheetof the speed of downward movement of said block, and means to limit themovement 01' said line.

4. In a rotary well drilling installation including a derrick and atraveling block supporting a drill stem suspended therein, thecombination' of a recording line associated with said block for movementtherewith, guide means supported by the derrick and over which said lineis passed, a pulley over which said line is engaged to rotate saidpulley, means for taking up and paying out the line after it leaves saidpulley, a rotating record drum adjacent said pulley, a record sheetthereon, and a stylus actuated through the rotation of said pulley tomove upon said sheet and record the downward movement of said drillstem.

5. In a rotary 'well drilling installation including a derrick and atravelingblock supporting a drill stem suspended therein, thecombination of a recording line connected for movement with said block,a guide pulley supported by the derrick and over which said line ispassed, a pulley .wheel over which said line is engaged to rotate saidpulley wheel, means for taking up and paying out the recording lineafter it leaves the pulley wheel, a record drum adjacent said pulleywheel, a record sheet on the drum, a clock mechanism for rotating thedrum, and a stylus actuated in response to the movement of said pulleywheel to mark a record on the sheet of the speed of downward movement ofsaid drill stem.

GEORGE P. MIZELL.

